Abstract
In the RIKEN Genomic Sciences Center, more than 50,000 activation tagged mutant lines of Arabidopsis have been produced for the saturated mutagenesis of the genome. To find the function of a gene, systematic analysis of phenotypes is vital. However, conventional phenotypic analysis of mutant screens depends mainly on qualitative descriptions after visual observation of morphological traits. We have proposed a new methodology of phenotypic analysis based on precise three-dimensional (3D) measurement by a laser range finder and automatic data processing. In this report, we exhibit systematic quantification of leaf morphological traits based on 3D morphological parameters, and analysis of the traits between several types of Arabidopsis. The proposed method enables us to obtain quantitative and precise descriptions of plant morphologies compared to conventional two-dimensional measurement. The method will open a way to find new traits from mutant pools or natural ecotypes based on 3D data.
